Craniofacial injuries by firearms projectiles: An analysis of 868 deaths in the five regions of Brazil

Publication date: Available online 10 December 2019Source: Journal of Forensic and Legal MedicineAuthor(s): Talita Lima de Castro, Sarah Teixeira Costa, Bianca Marques Santiago, Alexandre Rodrigues Freire, Eduardo Daruge Júnior, Felippe Bevilacqua Prado, Ana Cláudia RossiAbstractFirearms injuries have a legal and medico-legal importance, and are especially lethal when they reach the craniofacial regions of the victim. The present study aims to identify the characteristics of craniofacial lesions resulting from firearm projectiles, to register the most affected craniofacial regions by this type of injury and to verify the demographic profile of the victims. A retrospective study was carried out on the autopsy records produced in the first semester of 2015, in five Institutes of Legal Medicine in Porto Velho, situated in the cities of João Pessoa, Vitória, Porto Alegre and Brasília. Data extracted included sex, skin color and age of the victim, craniofacial region reached, shooting distance, shape and size of the injuries and manner of death (homicide, suicide or accident). Based on the 868 reports analyzed, it was possible to observe 1700 entrance lesions of firearm projectiles in craniofacial regions. Among cases of known manner of death, homicides were the most frequent (97.0%). It was observed a higher frequency of male victims (93.3%), mixed race (62.0%), between the ages of 12 and 29 years (59.4%). In all cases considered as suicide or accident there was only one ent...
Source: Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine - Category: Forensic Medicine Source Type: research